Crocodile Hunting

Vivid Account Of Crocodile Hunting

In the latter part of 1963 and in early 1964, “PIM” carried a number of stories about a sudden upsurge in crocodile hunting in New Guinea, the Solomons and New Hebrides.

THE reason was a sudden world shortage of crocodile hides, caused by the political upheaval in the Congo.

As far as we know, none of the Pacific crocodile hunters has yet written a book on the subject; but if one ever does, he will be hard put to improve on Crocodile Hunt, Keith Willey’s lively, vivid and often amus ing account of croc.-shooting in Aus tralia’s Northern Territory.

Willey, a triple prize-winning Aus tralian journalist, was working on a Darwin newspaper when the collapse of the Congo sent hide prices soar ing, and he and a friend took to the swampy plains behind Darwin in the hope of making some big money.

With a mob of primitive abori ginals, Willey and his friend spent several months in the bush, living on such savouries as snakes, goannas, buffalo meat, geese, parrots, cocka toos, snakes’ eggs, and what not— and shooting a crocodile now and then.

In the course of his adventures, the author acquired a remarkable fund of crocodile lore; and his superb account of the life history of a crocodile, which occupies an early chapter, is probably unmatched in any literature.

Willey is well known in New Guinea as the author of Assignment New Guinea. He is now writing a book about Tonga’s ’Ata castaways.

RL.

$4 50 R )° CODILE HUNT ‘ Jaca randa Press.

Keith Willey.